


Matters of Discipline

by CrlkSeasons



Series: Thirty Days Onward [1]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-16
Updated: 2017-02-16
Packaged: 2018-09-25 00:10:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9793820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrlkSeasons/pseuds/CrlkSeasons
Summary: A canon consistent version of Thirty Days that explains how the Paris-Janeway friendship survived these events.I am finally getting around to posting this on AO3. This is the first in a series of Tom Paris stories that cover events in seasons 5 and 6. I originally posted a version of Matters of Discipline on Jupiter_Station and later revised and reposted it on FFN.





	1. Chapter 1

Kathryn Janeway sat on Voyager’s bridge, staring grimly ahead. Her mouth was rigid. Her eyes gave away nothing. Seconds before, a single torpedo had flashed across the view screen on its way to the waters far below them where it disappeared from sight. 

On the bridge the seconds stretched slowed and dissipated into nothingness. Ensign Kim stood frozen by his console. Only the numbers on the screen in front of him registered in his mind. They had done it. They had fired on the Delta Flyer. 

Finally Lt. Commander Tuvok spoke. “The Flyer has been disabled, the missile deflected.” 

Kathryn Janeway’s hand clenched and released. No one else spoke. No one else moved. 

Tuvok continued his report tonelessly, as if he was listing items from the ship’s inventory. “We are retrieving the shuttle and will tractor it into shuttle bay two. The mining facility sustained minor damage to one of its loading bays but is otherwise intact. There are no reports of injuries. The Monean Deputy Consul is hailing us. He wishes to speak to you immediately.”

Just what she needed! The Captain could still hear the deputy consul’s voice ringing in her ears, insisting that she ‘do something’ to stop the Flyer. She had cut contact at that point to avoid giving him the opportunity to come up with any more specific demands. “Transfer the signal to my ready room,” she told Tuvok, pulling herself back into action. “Commander Chakotay, you have the bridge.” She nodded in his direction as she stepped down off the bridge.

Inside her ready room, she stopped to consider her options. At the moment she didn’t have many. They were in orbit around Monea, which meant that they were obligated to respect the laws and regulations that governed the water planet. Technically, Tom Paris had terminated his status as a protected member of Voyager’s crew when he had left the ship without permission. She would have been hard pressed to avoid destroying the Delta Flyer if the Monean authorities had demanded that she do so. Right now her nerves were on edge and she was damned angry to be in this situation. 

Enough of this! She needed to think clearly. A lot depended what the Moneans would decide to do next. This might be her one chance to affect their decision. She sat down in her chair, took a calming breath and opened the link. 

An angry Deputy Consul had obviously been waiting impatiently for her. He skipped the diplomatic niceties. “Captain Janeway! Is ‘this’ your idea of protecting the mining facility?”

“Deputy Consul Burkus,” she interrupted firmly. “We haven’t received any reports of injuries to your people. Can you confirm that everyone was evacuated safely and no one was hurt?”

The Monean official looked irritated at being interrupted. Then he seemed to recall that he was supposed to be interested in the safety of the miners who worked on the mining facility and assumed an artificial expression of concern. “Yes, that is correct. We were able to evacuate everyone in time.” 

Captain Janeway breathed a sigh of relief. The Deputy Consul took advantage of this short pause to continue with his original complaint. “That explosion drew attention from every region under the sea. I am being inundated with demands for information from all forty-seven of the regional sovereigns. They want to know how long operations will be suspended and whether there is any danger of further explosions.”

“Have you explained the situation to them?”

“Yes, but they’re not satisfied. They insist that a ship such as yours would not be involved unless there was more to the matter than I have revealed to them. Captain, we must put a stop to this kind of speculation. I demand that you release Mr. Riga and your Mr. Paris to our custody immediately. We will take the necessary steps to make it clear that they are nothing more than common criminals and the issue can be closed.”

“We will hand Mr. Riga over to the proper authorities as soon as we retrieve our shuttle craft. Before we deal with the issue of Mr. Paris, may I know what are the ‘necessary steps’ that you intend to follow?”

“Our laws have clear penalties for such actions.”

“I’m sure they do and we will respect your laws. However, I assume that there will be some form of inquiry first?”

“Of course, Captain. But in cases like this, where the facts are so well established, you must realize that this will be a speedy process. The outcome is practically assured.” 

“I understand how serious the situation is, Deputy Consul. I’d like to discuss any options available to Mr. Paris before we complete the transfer to your jurisdiction.” 

“I don’t see any need for discussion, Captain. I insist that Mr. Paris be turned over to us at once.”

“It will take some time for the Flyer to surface safely. I’m sure we can use this time productively. After all, with all the public interest that is being generated, I’m sure that we both wish to proceed as carefully as possible. I wonder, for example, if it will be in anyone’s best interest to hold Mr. Paris on Monea. Surely that would further increase the attention directed at your department? Maybe it would be better for everyone if we took him with us on Voyager and allowed you to address the concerns about the mining facility without needless complications?”

The Deputy Consul considered how much easier his job would be without these alien visitors around, reminding everyone about an issue that he would rather they forgot about just now. However, he was not ready to give up his indignation just yet. “Very well, we can discuss the matter. But, I insist on a guarantee that Mr. Paris face appropriate consequences. Otherwise, he will have to be handed over to our custody at once.”

Hours later, the Captain’s head was pounding and anyone who got in between her and the nearest cup of coffee was risking mortal danger. If she never heard that self-righteous Deputy Consul Burkus’ voice again, it would still be too soon. They had been able to keep Tom Paris, but it was on terms that she only hoped they would be able to live with. She knew that she would soon have to perform one of the most painful duties of her career. 

The Flyer had finally reached the surface of the ocean and Tom would be returning to Voyager shortly. Mr. Riga had been handed over to the Monean authorities. Only Riga’s insistence that Tom’s continued presence on Monea would further anger the Monean officials and make it more difficult for Riga to present his defense had convinced Tom to agree to return to Voyager without him. 

The Captain did have the small satisfaction of being able to supply Mr. Riga’s defense representative with data about the true condition of the field reactor at the center of the water world. That was the only consolation in what was going to be a trying time for all of them. The emotional minefield that Voyager would have to navigate in the coming days would be a difficult one for her crew, and there was very little that her Captain could do to help. At some point Captain Janeway was going to have to figure out how to make the best of this whole situation. Right now she had more immediate arrangements to set in place. 

“Captain to the bridge.” 

“Commander Chakotay here.” 

“Commander, would you and Mr. Tuvok please join me in my ready room?”

“On our way, Captain.”

Chakotay and Tuvok stepped through the ready room doors to find Kathryn sitting stiffly behind the desk where they had last seen her, negotiating with the Monean authorities. From the tension in her face, Tuvok could tell and Chakotay could admit that he could tell that the negotiations had not gone particularly well. 

“Mr. Tuvok,” she said, handing him a PADD. “Here is a list of the terms that that I was able to negotiate with the Monean authorities in exchange for allowing Mr. Paris to remain on Voyager.” 

“What did you agree on, Captain?” Chakotay asked. “The last time we talked, the Moneans were demanding a one to two year prison term in exchange for allowing Tom to leave with us on Voyager.” 

“See for yourself,” she said, pushing another PADD across her desk in his direction. “The Moneans have reduced their demands to a one month prison sentence with the condition that it be served in restricted solitary confinement – the time must be served in the brig, no exercise or recreational provisions, contact with others limited to custodial personal only, no visitors at any time, meals must comply with Monean guidelines for prisoners, oh and apparently Moneans restrict the freedom of former prisoners until they provide proof they are ready to be fully integrated back into society.” 

Chakotay shook his head over the lengthy list of detailed requirements. “Is that all? No ball and chain? I thought the Moneans were a more enlightened people. Captain, they can’t be serious about all these extra conditions.”

“Oh, they’re quite serious. It was one month under these terms or a minimum six month term of confinement.” 

“Do they know that Tom is claustrophobic?”

“Yes. I explained that. That’s the reason that Deputy Consul Burkus insisted on these particular conditions. I can’t remember when I last met such an unpleasant, vindictive politician.”

“Perhaps, you have had, as yet, insufficient acquaintance with politicians?” Tuvok offered in that dry, measured tone that made others second guess themselves when they heard the barbed humor in his comments. 

“The crew is not going to be happy about this, Kathryn,” Chakotay said, pointing out what she already knew. “Even with the fact that Tom is facing charges under Starfleet regulations, this process violates his Federation rights. How can we justify that?”

“This is a Starfleet ship. We are Starfleet officers. Federation laws are very clear on what our duties are when we venture into alien space. Right now we are in Monean space. Their laws have to govern our actions in this case. Tom knew what he was getting into when he accepted his commission.” Kathryn grimaced as she considered the words she had just spoken. 

“Unfortunately, a particularly critical media report was released just when Deputy Consul Burkus and I were discussing Mr. Paris’ status after his release from the brig. The best that I could do was to suggest that a rank reduction to Ensign would satisfy their conditions,” Kathryn explained. 

“I see,” Chakotay replied. “Will Tom be assigned limited or full bridge duties?” he asked. It was a valid question. As Voyager’s First Officer, he needed to know. After the incident on Sikaris, it had been two years before B’Elanna was left in charge of the bridge, even though that meant that, at times, Ensign Kim was left in charge over her. 

“I don’t know,” Kathryn admitted, in response to Chakotay’s question. “I hope so. But I have to be realistic. I know how difficult it will be for him to be confined in the brig for thirty days. We will do the best that we can for him afterwards. But, if he isn’t able to recover enough to take up those duties, we have to be ready for that too. We have Hamilton and Baytart who might be ready to step up to cover the full responsibilities of Chief Conn officer. To be thorough, we should consider other possibilities as well. Do you have any suggestions, Chakotay?” 

Chakotay didn’t have to consult his records. He knew this crew well. “Culhane deserves some consideration. He has come a long way in the past year. He’s handled some tricky situations on the beta shift. I’d like to see him in a few more pressure situations to be sure. We could have him fill in at the helm during some of the more challenging shifts. We should also get the Doctor to update his psychological profile to check his readiness for increased responsibility.” 

The Captain nodded her agreement. “Try Culhane on a couple of alpha shifts. It will help to fill the gap left in the rotation by Mr. Paris’ absence and give us a chance to evaluate how well he handles the challenge of flying under more difficult conditions.” 

“I’ll take care of it, Captain. Anything else?” 

“No. That’s everything for now. I am counting on Tom to be strong enough to learn from this experience The Senior Conn position is his if he can still handle it. Hopefully, he will be back at the conn next month and all this will be academic. But, I can’t risk the safety of the ship just on the basis of what I would like see to happen.” She rubbed her forehead where a headache had been slowly building over the last few hours. “I can’t remember the last time that I felt this helpless and this frustrated,” she admitted. “Except for the moment when we had to fire at the Delta Flyer.” She stared accusingly at Tuvok. “You aimed our torpedo awfully close to the mining facility when you fired to destroy that missile, Tuvok. You could have detonated the torpedo much closer to the Flyer.” 

Tuvok responded in his typical matter-of-fact tone. “The station was unoccupied, Captain. The Delta Flyer was not. I assumed that wished to minimize the risk of injury. Was I in error?”

“No, you know you were not. Thank you, Tuvok,” she said quietly.

“You are welcome, Captain,” he stated simply. “Mr. Paris is currently in Sickbay being examined by the Doctor. How do you wish me to proceed?”

“As soon as the Doctor has finished checking him over, have a security team escort Mr. Paris to your office. I’d like you to review the Federation charges against him and give him the opportunity to respond if he wishes to do so. I’ll see him in my ready room after you are done.”

“I’ll make the necessary arrangements immediately,” Tuvok assured her. At Kathryn’s dismissal, he left her with Commander Chakotay and exited the ready room. 

After Tuvok left, Kathryn stood up and gestured to Chakotay to follow her to the seating area by the window where they could sit more comfortably. She rubbed her forehead again and leaned back to rest her head against the back of the cushioned banquette. 

“Will you be all right, Kathryn?” Chakotay asked in concern. 

“I’ll survive,” she assured him. “I just have to figure out how all this is going to work. I don’t want to lose Tom. I know that whatever mistakes he has made in the past, or even will make in the future, he cares deeply about this ship and wants to be a valued member of this crew. He’s grown a lot since he first arrived on Voyager. I’ve got to believe that he has grown enough to accept the consequences of his actions and to learn from this experience.” 

“So what are you going to do now, Kathryn?”

“Now?” she asked. “I’ll do what I have to do,” she answered. “After, I’ll do what I can,” she promised. The strength of her resolve and the hope in her promise carried her through the rest of that difficult day. 

When the security team brought Tom Paris to her ready room, he kept his eyes fixed straight ahead as she recited the charges. She kept her eyes focused on his when she passed sentence. She owed him that much. 

“Thomas Eugene Paris. I hereby reduce you to the rank of Ensign. And I sentence you to thirty days solitary confinement.” Then she addressed the guard. “Escort Ensign Paris to the brig.”

He raised his hand to forestall them from taking hold of his arm. “I know the way.”

She permitted him the dignity of walking to the brig without restraint.


	2. Chapter 2

It was day sixteen. That’s how most of Voyager’s crew now calculated the passage of time. It was more than two weeks since Tom Paris had stopped being a presence in the daily life of the ship. There were still fourteen days to go until he returned. 

The month had begun awkwardly. The crew had felt hobbled, like they were trying to run a marathon as a three-legged race. They had adapted. These numbered days now followed one another with a new, oddly paced rhythm. 

It was just past mid-morning for the alpha shift crew. Lt. Torres was in Engineering. She had worked through her break, once again. She was preparing to work yet another double shift, testing and tuning her engines. At the moment she was in the middle of a conversation with the Doctor over the comm link. He had called from Sickbay, trying to convince Lt. Torres that it was of the utmost importance to release Crewman Dalby from his duties so he could come to Sickbay to complete his physical. 

Up on the bridge, Ensign Kim was back at his station, ready to take charge if needed. The Captain was in her ready room, reading through her ever-present pile of PADDs. The pile now included a daily report from Lt. Commander Tuvok, keeping her informed about the condition of the prisoner in the brig. 

Neelix was in his galley setting up a tray. He would soon carry the tray down to the brig. That would leave him enough time to get back to the mess hall to finish preparations for the lunch crowd. As Neelix worked, he could see that Commander Chakotay was still in the mess hall, drinking hot tea. The Commander sat there most mornings these days, making himself available to anyone who might want to talk to him during the staggered morning breaks. 

One sight that was not a regular part of the new routine was the presence of the Ensigns, Hamilton and Baytart in the mess hall. They were sitting with their heads together in one corner of the room. Baytart was a more familiar sight at this time of day. He was working many of the alpha shifts, with relief from Ensign Culhane. Ensign Hamilton, however, had worked Gamma shift last night. She should be in her quarters, resting. 

Commander Chakotay watched them. They were apparently talking through some kind of problem. He had the feeling that they were deciding whether or not to come over and talk to him. He read over a PADD that he had already read twice to give them time to make up their minds. Finally, Ensign Hamilton seemed to come to a decision. She was a quiet mannered woman, not someone you would immediately think of as forceful. In her own way she was as determined as any officer on the ship. She grabbed Pablo Baytart’s arm and pulled him behind her as they began to make their way across the room to stop beside Chakotay’s table. 

“Commander, may we speak with you?” Hamilton asked. 

“Have a seat.” Chakotay motioned the two of them into the chairs across from him. “What’s on your mind?” he asked.

They exchanged glances. Ms. Hamilton took the lead. “It’s about Mr. Paris, Sir. Many of the pilots were wondering. Is he going to resume all his duties when he returns to the helm?” 

Curious, Chakotay raised one eyebrow before asking, “Are you getting tired of the extra shifts at the conn?” He was only half serious. He knew both pilots enjoyed flying too much to object to extra shifts. 

“It’s not that. It’s been great having more time at the helm. No true pilot can resist that challenge.”

“Although we will be glad to give up writing all the reports that have to get done,” Baytart added, an apology on his face for Chakotay. He knew that the Commander had taken on the heaviest part of that load himself, particularly duty schedules and pilot evaluations. “It’s just that …”

Ms. Hamilton took over again. “Some of the other pilots have asked us to speak to you on their behalf.”

“About what?”

“About Lt.Torres and Seven of Nine, Sir.”

“What about them?” Chakotay asked, more curious than ever. 

“Before … this, when they had a problem with helm they spoke to Mr. Paris, the Chief Pilot. Since he’s not available right now, they’re addressing their concerns directly to whoever is sitting at the helm.” 

“Yes and,” Chakotay encouraged. 

“Well, Sir, they’re rather,” she hesitated, and then settled on a word, “blunt.” 

“Blunt?” Chakotay repeated her word, making it a question.

“Blunt, Sir.” She confirmed her choice of words. “When Mr. Culhane pulled that emergency maneuver that got Voyager away from those five attacking alien ships, Lt. Torres complained that his ‘little maneuver’ created over twelve hours of extra work for her engineering team. She suggested that he put in more time on the simulators to improve his piloting skills. Then she said that he could, at the very least, make himself useful by coming down to Engineering to help her staff with the repairs. Sir, we know that Culhane needs more experience with tight maneuvers. But Lt. Torres could have been more tactful.” 

“Tact is not one of Lt. Torres’ strong points.” Chakotay noted dryly. “She does have a department to run and a ship to maintain,” he pointed out, reasonably. “I’m sure that she just wanted to make sure that helm was doing all it could to avoid any unnecessary wear and tear on the engines.” 

“There’s Seven of Nine too, Sir,” Ms. Hamilton said, not giving up. “We spend hours calculating the best course for the ship. Then she tells us that our figures are inadequate. She told Pablo that it was inefficient for Voyager to fly completely around an area of space just because of a few spatial anomalies. She said that Mr. Paris could have flown the course that she originally proposed.” 

“Commander,” Pablo Baytart said. “We never knew how much work was involved in running the Conn department. Things just seemed to go along smoothly when Tom was here.” 

There was nothing that Chakotay could say to answer that. Whoever was in charge at Conn had to be able to work closely with Engineering and Astrometrics. B’Elanna Torres and Seven of Nine both happened to have strong personalities and were very outspoken. It didn’t help matters that they had gotten used to dealing with Tom Paris, one of the few people on board the ship who was not easily offended by their frankness and who could hold his own without adding to the friction. “I’m sure we’re all managing the best we can.” Chakotay told the two Ensigns. “Until things get back to normal I’ll speak to Seven and to Lt. Torres about directing their concerns to me.” 

“Thank you, Sir!” 

Chakotay watched as the two visibly relieved officers made a quick exit from the mess hall. This was turning out to be an even heavier month for Chakotay than he had first anticipated. He mentally added one more item to his list of things to do. He hoped that Tom would be able to take over his full duties sooner rather than later and take them off Chakotay’s hands. 

 

Over by the counter Neelix made a final check of the items on his tray and started out the door towards the turbolift. After almost sixteen full days he could make his way to the brig without thinking about it. When the turbolift doors opened again he walked past the few crewmembers who worked on this level. Their voices receded quickly and soon he could only hear the sound of his own footsteps walking along the metal floor under his feet. This was the part of the journey that he disliked the most. It was like leaving the world behind and entering a tomb.

He stopped at the security door and entered his pass code. The door slid open and he stepped into the brig. The guard at the desk raised his eyes, ready to respond to Neelix’s signal to lower the force field. Neelix gestured hopefully toward the cell. The officer shrugged a negative response to his silent question. There was no improvement in the prisoner. 

Neelix shook his head slowly. For the first while, Tom had been impatient for him to arrive, eager for company. In the past few days this had changed and Neelix was becoming more and more concerned. He stepped over to the force field and called out to the form curled up on the bench. “Lunch time, Mr. Paris,” he announced. “You’ll be happy to know that it isn’t leola root today.” Neelix had been dismayed when the breakfast tray had been returned once again with the food virtually untouched. When he didn’t get a response, Neelix tried again. “Mr. Paris, it’s time for lunch. Uh, Tom?” 

The body shifted, finally showing some signs of life. It turned towards the sound of Neelix’s voice and Tom stared at him with dull eyes. His face was unshaved and scruffy looking. He got up slowly and walked over to the force field to take the tray from Neelix. “Oh, thanks, Neelix.” 

Neelix passed the tray to Tom and the guard restored the force field. “I noticed that you didn’t eat much breakfast this morning. Is my cooking getting that bad?” Neelix asked, hoping for a more lively response. 

Tom merely blinked before saying, “Sorry. I guess I forgot.” He stared at the tray in his hands and then seemed to remember that he was supposed to do something with it. He walked back to put the tray at the end of the bench. “I’ll try to do better. I promise.” 

“Okay, Tom. I’ll see you at dinner. Be sure to eat.” Neelix reminded him. 

Tom nodded. He sat down at the other end of the bench. Neelix watched him for a minute. But, Tom seemed to have already forgotten that the lunch tray was there. 

Neelix frowned to himself when he left the brig. He didn’t like this at all. He had to talk to the Captain as soon as possible. When he was inside the turbolift he activated his comm link. “Neelix to Captain Janeway.” 

Up in her ready room Kathryn Janeway was still at her desk with Tuvok’s report on the prisoner in her hands. “Go ahead, Neelix.” 

“Do you have a few minutes today? I’d like to talk to you about Mr. Paris.” 

“I have some time now Mr. Neelix. I’m in my ready room.” 

“I’m on my way. Neelix out.” Neelix made a quick call to Ensign Wildman to ask her to stop by the mess hall to watch the pot of stew that was simmering on the stove. Then he hurried up to see the Captain. 

 

“Thank you for seeing me so quickly, Captain,” he began. 

“Not at all, Mr. Neelix. What did you want to discuss about Mr. Paris?” 

“I’m worried. He’s not eating very much.” 

“Maybe he’s just bored with the menu? A few light meals won’t do any harm.” 

“It’s more than that. He doesn’t just leave the things that he’s tired of, like the leola root stew. He seems to forget to eat altogether. He’s stopped caring about his appearance. He doesn’t shave. He doesn’t even pretend to exercise any more. He doesn’t do much of anything. I haven’t seen him make an entry on his PADD for days. He just sits or lies there on that bench.” 

The Captain leaned farther back in her chair. “That’s what Lt. Commander Tuvok said in his security report. I was reading it over again when you called. What do you think is wrong with Tom? Do you think this is a symptom of claustrophobia?” 

Neelix considered the idea before replying. “I don’t think that’s it. If it was just the tight space getting to him, he’d walk back and forth inside his cell to try to keep himself from walking right through the walls. This is different. I’m really worried about him, Captain.” 

“All right, Neelix. I’ll look into the matter. Let me find out what I can from the Doctor first. I have a meeting with him later this afternoon. He saw Tom a few days ago in the brig when Tom hit his head during that alien attack. I’ll see what he can tell me about Tom.” The Captain got up and walked around her desk. “Try not to worry too much, Neelix. I’m sure I’ll be able to get to the bottom of this soon.” 

“I know you will, Captain. And I know that you are worried too.” Neelix didn’t expect her to admit it. He just had to let her know that he knew how she felt. “I guess I’d better get back to my kitchen.”

“The Captain nodded and said quietly, “Dismissed, Mr. Neelix.” 

The Captain turned back to resume her work. Yes, she was worried. But, a Captain couldn’t let her crew know that she was worried. It was important that they see a Captain who was confident that everything was under control. And that’s exactly what she let them see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) We don’t know Hamilton’s rank or gender. We only know that Hamilton and Ensign Pablo Baytart were both considered as possible replacements for Tom when he left the ship in the Season Two episode, Investigations. Since Baytart and Culhane are both male, with the rank of Ensign, I chose to make Hamilton an Ensign and female. They needed to have one senior pilot who was a woman.


	3. Chapter 3

Later that afternoon, the Doctor hurried into his meeting with the Captain. He had an important issue to discuss and he began speaking before she even had a chance to say a word. “Captain, you have to do something about the crewmembers who are failing to show up for their physicals. I’ve wasted countless hours that should have been used for other work.” 

This is not what the Captain had expected to discuss with the Doctor. Nevertheless, Captain Janeway was concerned about all matters relating to the well being of her crew. She only hoped that this wasn’t a sign of an even bigger problem. “Are you saying that crewmembers have refused to report to Sickbay?” she asked. 

“Not exactly. But some of them are postponing their appointments. They say that they prefer to wait until Mr. Paris returns to Sickbay. Apparently they prefer his bedside manner.” 

“Can’t you accommodate them for now?” 

“Captain! It takes careful planning to set up a workable schedule for the crew’s physicals. When people start postponing their appointments, it creates a backlog. I have experiments to run, arias to practice. What if there is a medical emergency? I don’t have time to chase after patients who want to change their appointments. I’m a Doctor, not a secretary,” he finished on a note of exasperation. 

“Doctor, we are all making sacrifices to keep things running smoothly. I think you might manage to forego your singing practice for a few weeks. Couldn’t you use the down time from the missed appointments to devote to your experiments?” 

“Captain, the health of the crew is at stake here,” he explained with a touching earnestness. “I am the only Doctor on this ship. These exams are vital to my ability to monitor and maintain the crew’s health.” Then his tone changed to one of annoyance. “It was just my luck that four of my most difficult patients, aside from you and Mr. Paris of course, were scheduled for appointments these past two weeks. Mr. Paris is usually most helpful with those.” 

“How so?” 

“You wouldn’t believe it, Captain. I am not just any Doctor.” The Doctor explained proudly. “I am probably the best Doctor in the Federation.” Mr. Paris is a medic, a well trained medic,” he admitted. “After all, I trained him myself, but still only a medic. I tell the crew to eat healthy food, to exercise and get lots of rest. They ignore me. Mr. Paris tells them that he understands that Megan Delaney likes firm abs and they listen to him!” 

Captain Janeway pressed her lips firmly together to suppress the smile that threatened to escape. She was partly amused and partly relieved that the problem wasn’t more serious. “Mr. Paris does seem to have a way with patients. Have you considered borrowing some of his methods?” she asked helpfully. 

“Yes, Captain. I told Crewman Dalby that it would improve his sex life if he took better care of himself.” 

“I see,” the Captain commented, rather taken aback. 

“Yes, he told me to - mind my own business.” The Doctor hastily edited Dalby’s words for the Captain’s benefit. 

“Hmmph.” The Captain’s reply was muffled by a cough that she turned around to handle. Her eyes were noticeably brighter when she turned back. The Doctor hoped that she wasn’t coming down with a virus. Getting her to come to Sickbay would be a major headache, if holograms got headaches. 

“Captain, I need Mr. Paris’ assistance in Sickbay. You have to assign him to extra shifts in Sickbay once he is released so I can catch up.” 

“Mr. Paris’ top priority will have to be his helm duties. They are his primary responsibility.” 

“Oh, I’m sure Mr. Paris doesn’t expect to return to his helm duties right away. I’ve already told him that Mr. Culhane is ready to step in at the helm.” 

“I beg your pardon?” The temperature in the room was suddenly colder. 

“When I treated Mr. Paris’ head injury. With all the other minor injuries waiting for me in Sickbay, I had to take time to go all the way down to the brig.” The Doctor prattled on, oblivious to the change in the Captain’s mood. “Did he even ask how things were going in Sickbay? No! All he was concerned about was the helm. I told him that you were considering Mr. Culhane for the position of Chief Conn Officer. You remember that you asked me to evaluate Mr. Culhane’s ability to handle increased responsibility? So, Mr. Paris won’t expect you to put him back… at the… helm… right away.” The Doctor began to wind down when he finally noticed the change in Captain Janeway’s expression. “Captain, is anything wrong?” 

The Captain spoke slowly and carefully. “Doctor, do the words ‘no unnecessary conversation with the prisoner’ mean anything to you?” 

“Well of course, Captain,” the Doctor began again. “But I knew that you didn’t mean that anything that I would say to Mr. Paris would be unnecessary. I am a Doctor after all.” The Doctor beamed at her. 

“Let me make myself very clear,” the Captain said. She held up her hand to prevent any interruptions. “When I ask my Chief Medical Officer for a medical opinion, I expect my Medical Officer to keep that opinion and any conjectures about why I wanted that opinion to himself.” 

“Of course, Captain.” The Doctor’s smile was a little less bright. 

“And when I give an order that there be no unnecessary conversation with the prisoner, I expect everyone to obey that order.” 

The Doctor smile was a mere shadow. 

“That order not only ensured that we adhered to the Monean guidelines,” she explained. “It also made sure that Mr. Paris wouldn’t be preoccupied with worry over events and problems on the ship that he could do nothing about. I definitely did not want him to spend this month thinking that his Captain had given up on him and had already decided to replace him.” 

The Doctor’s smile had completely disappeared. “Of course not. Maybe I should speak to him again and…”

“I think that you’ve done enough already,” she interrupted him. “I’ll have to see what else can be done to repair the damage that your bit of news may have caused.” 

“Captain, I’m sorry. I didn’t think… I didn’t mean… “ 

“I know you didn’t,” she said with resigned understanding. “But you haven’t helped the situation and I’m not sure what the long term consequences will be.” She dismissed him somewhat wearily. 

“Damn!” She said as soon as he was gone. Her instincts told her that Tom had begun an important process, working his way through issues that only he could resolve. The Doctor’s words had disrupted that process and she needed to find some way get it back on track. Even with her hands tied by the settlement negotiated with the Moneans, those same instincts told her that seeing the Captain wasn’t the answer, not yet anyway, not with so much time still left in his sentence. But she knew she had to find a way to let him know that she hadn’t given up on him. 

She started pacing back and forth as she talked through her options. “Maybe Neelix can talk to him.” She dismissed that idea almost immediately. “No, it has to be someone out of the ordinary so that Tom can figure out that this is a message from me.” She considered sending B’Elanna and rejected her as well. “Not B’Elanna. She’s coping by burying herself in work. It isn’t fair to send her to see Tom in the brig where they’d only have a few minutes and be under observation by a guard.” 

“It will have to be Harry,” she decided. “Harry has seen Tom under similar stress in the Akritiri prison. He can get a better read on Tom’s state of mind than anyone else. He has the best chance of knowing what to say to him.” Her decision made, she summoned Harry Kim to her ready room. Since he was still on the bridge. It didn’t take long for him to arrive. 

“Mr. Kim, I have a mission for you.” 

“Ma’am?” Harry tended to revert to formal Starfleet protocol when in the Captain’s ready room. He had held tightly to his Starfleet training these past weeks, using it to try to make sense out of what had happened. It didn’t necessarily help. He needed to talk to Tom. He had asked the Captain many times for permission to visit Tom. He needed to convince himself that despite everything that had happened, Tom was going to be okay. 

“I am going to grant your request to see Mr. Paris, with certain conditions. Mr. Paris is apparently withdrawing further and further into himself. I want you to talk to him. Remind him that he has a life waiting for him outside the brig. Try to direct his thoughts in a more productive direction. Do you think you can manage that?” 

Harry didn’t know if it was a good idea, but he had to ask. “Ma'am, why are you doing this? Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate that you’re letting me see Tom. But, what does it matter how he feels now?” 

“You mean why am I so concerned about Tom’s mental state when I was willing to risk his life on Monea a couple of weeks ago?” 

“I’m sorry, Captain. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked.” 

”It’s all right, Mr. Kim. I think it’s time we talked about what happened back there. Have a seat,” she offered. After he sat stiffly on one of the chairs, she continued. ”Commander Chakotay informs me that you have requested more command experience on the bridge.”

“That’s right, Ma’am,” he said, feeling more than a little uncomfortable. 

“Are you interested in moving up the ranks to Captain?” 

Harry considered her question before answering. “I know there isn’t much room for advancement out here in the Delta Quadrant. When we make it home though, I want to be ready.” 

“Do you believe that you have what it takes to be a Captain?” 

Harry answered with more confidence than he would have shown at the beginning of their journey. “I think so. I won’t know for sure until I try.” 

“Tell me, Ensign,” she said, deliberately using his title. “What is the first responsibility that a Captain has to her crew?”

“A Captain never abandons a member of his crew.” Harry had studied the regulations. 

“A Captain never abandons a member of her crew,” she agreed. “That day on the bridge, when I said that Tom forfeited his status as a protected member of this crew, I wasn’t throwing him off the crew because I was angry with him. I was angry because in leaving the ship, he didn’t just violate ship’s protocol. He left his position as a member of Voyager’s crew. He left me with no grounds to protect him if the Moneans had asked me to fire on his ship before he could fire at their mining facility.” 

Harry thought this over. “That must have been very difficult for you.” 

“It was difficult. That’s what it means to be in command. You have to be able to make the difficult calls.” She smiled sadly. “So, do you still want to be a Captain?” 

He thought about this a bit and then answered. “Yes, Ma’am, someday. Right now though, I think I’m glad that I don’t have to make those decisions. Captain, thank you for the chance to see Tom.” 

“You won’t have much time, Harry. I can’t give you more than ten minutes.” 

“I understand. I’ll do my best,” he promised. He left the ready room to make his way down to the brig. 

Kathryn Janeway had done what she could. Now it was up to Tom. “Come on, Tom. Listen to Harry,” she silently urged through the decks that separated the bridge from the brig. “Think about what Harry has to say. Think, Tom!” 

 

Less than ten minutes after entering the brig, Harry stepped back over the threshold of the force field, leaving Tom alone in the cell behind him. Harry was frustrated and disappointed. “What was it you once told me, that your father used to say that you never finished anything?” With those parting words to Tom, Harry shook his head and left the brig. In the corridor outside, Harry mentally banged his head against the bulkhead. “Way to go, Kim,” he berated himself. “Your best friend needs your help and you pretty much call him a quitter and a loser. They should sign you up to lead spirit rallies at the Academy!” 

Harry pulled himself together. This self-reproach was getting him nowhere. He thought back to the time when he had slipped through that time stream and found himself back on an alternate Earth. He had met another version of Tom and had given that Tom a piece of his mind too. The other Tom had figured out that Harry was angry with him because Harry didn’t want to see him waste his life. Even though his visit to their Tom had ended badly just now, maybe it would end up helping him anyway. Maybe Tom would realize that Harry said the things that he did because he was just trying to get through to him. Harry hoped so. 

Back inside the cell Tom stared at the empty space where Harry had stood. “You’re such an idiot sometimes, brushing Harry off that way,” he told himself. “Why don’t you learn to think before you open your mouth?” He looked around his cell. He saw the green glow reflected on the grey walls, the curved white lights that anchored the force field, the movement of the guard beyond the force field.

To Tom, it seemed that he had been stuck in a thick fog for days. It felt as if his world had been closing in on him, leaving him with nothing. Concern about hurting his friend broke through that fog in a way that nothing else had been able to do. Now, he remembered that there were people waiting for him who cared about him. Was that what this visit was about? Why had the Captain given Harry permission to visit him? Tom let his mind consider the possibilities. 

Tom caught a glimpse of the PADD lying on the floor. It represented a step that he had taken, then abandoned. But he could finish it. He knew that a few years ago, being alone with himself would have been one of the hardest parts about being in jail. Now, no matter how tough it was to get through these thirty days, being alone with himself was no longer the torture it once was. 

Maybe there were people who could never accept the person he actually was. But, he thought he was ready to give them the chance to know the real Tom Paris and to make that decision for themselves. Maybe it was finally time to drop the barriers and give his dad that opportunity too. Tom reached down and retrieved his PADD. 

“Time for dinner, Mr. Paris,” Neelix announced. “I’m sorry to say that it is leola root stew this time.” 

Tom looked up from his PADD. He hadn’t realized how much time had passed. He walked over to the force field to take the tray. “That’s okay, Neelix,” he said graciously. “No one makes leola root stew better than you do. Besides, I’m suddenly feeling very hungry. I think I must have forgotten to eat lunch today.” 

“Well then, eat up!” 

“Thanks, Neelix. See you at breakfast.” Tom sat back down and began to eat, still contemplating the PADD in his other hand. 

Neelix watched for a moment. Then he gave a relieved sigh and walked out of the brig. “See you at breakfast, Tom,” he whispered to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) I wanted to address the question of why the Captain gave Harry permission to visit Tom in the middle of his sentence. I used what did happen during the Doctor’s visit and Tom’s subsequent depression to create this version of events. 
> 
> 2) It wasn’t fair to the Harry Kim character to have him raise one small protest about firing on the Delta Flyer and then just be okay with everything. I gave Harry this scene with the Captain to allow him greater depth.


	4. Chapter 4

It was day twenty-eight on Voyager. It had been a strange month. Even though the ship had been flying at warp speed, the crew had experienced a feeling of being suspended in time, of life on hold until the month was over. Now, there was a sense of anticipation running through the decks of the ship - except for one corner of Deck Fifteen of course. Mortimer Harren never noticed or cared about anything except his mathematical theories. Everyone else knew that day thirty was in sight. 

The ship’s Captain, her First Officer and her Security Chief sat at one end of the large table in Voyager’s briefing room. After so many years together, these most senior of the officers had a comfortable working relationship. It was a relationship that had survived several early bumps in the road, including a period of time during which the Captain questioned her First Officer’s judgment. At the time, they were dealing with Seska, a former Maquis crewmember. After Chakotay left Voyager, without authorization, to handle Seska’s betrayal in his own way, the Captain had, for a time, withdrawn some of her confidence from him. She had second-guessed how he would react in similar situations, to the point that she had allowed herself to be persuaded to exclude him from the plan to expose the spy among them on Voyager. 

The atmosphere in the room today was very different from the atmosphere back then. It was also considerably different from the mood at the meeting held in the Captain’s ready room four weeks ago. Today, Captain Janeway radiated energy. Commander Chakotay sat at her right hand, quietly ready to begin. Lt. Commander Tuvok sat at her left with his PADDs arranged neatly and precisely in front of him. Chakotay and the Captain each had a mug of their beverage of choice within easy reach. Mr. Tuvok held to his Vulcan sense of decorum and declined any refreshment. This was a meeting about ship’s business after all. 

The Captain took a sip of her coffee, leaned forward and began. “Gentlemen, Mr. Paris’ thirty days will be up at the end of the week. Since we’ve already addressed every possible charge that a Starfleet lawyer could raise against Mr. Paris over this incident, I think we can move forward with confidence once his sentence is completed.” They had indeed been thorough. Since his sentence was already dictated by their agreement with the Moneans, why waste the opportunity to pre-empt any future Starfleet action? “It is important that we plan his transition back to duty carefully,” she continued. “These first days and weeks will be critical in determining how well he adjusts.” 

“Indeed. Captain, Tuvok agreed. “Being treated as a prisoner can change a person’s self perception. Upon release from the brig, there is a certain period of adjustment needed to recover from this experience. The transition can be a relatively quick one or it can be a long, difficult process.” 

“Do you anticipate that Mr. Paris will have difficulty re-adjusting to his role as an officer on the ship?” Chakotay asked. 

“I have found that human behavior is often unpredictable. However, I believe that there is reason for optimism. Mr. Paris has proven to be a resilient individual. He has found a way to endure the worst of his confinement. It would still be wise not to leave a successful return to crew status to chance. I recommend that Mr. Paris return to his regular duties as quickly as possible. It would also be beneficial to allow sufficient opportunity for interpersonal and recreational activities. This will assist him in re-affirming his identity as a member of the crew. I personally accept responsibility for monitoring Mr. Paris during his transition period.” 

The Captain nodded. She respected Tuvok’s expertise in these matters. She knew that, despite an occasional misstep when interacting with humans, he was more perceptive than many people gave him credit for. 

“Mr. Chakotay, have you set up a duty schedule for Mr. Paris?” she asked. 

“Yes, I’ve set up some flight simulations for his first morning. He can cover a half shift at the helm in the afternoon. I’ve also arranged Lt. Torres’ schedule to match Mr. Paris’ schedule for the next while. I understand that Mr. Kim has saved up quite a few holodeck rations. Several of the crew have donated rations to help out. Even Seven of Nine chipped in.” 

The Captain glanced up from the PADD that he had given her to review. “Seven?” 

“Apparently, Captain, when Mr. Paris has time to relax on the holodeck, it contributes to helm efficiency. 

“Of course,” she said. “Why didn’t I think of that?” 

“Captain, are you certain that you wish to postpone the resumption of Mr. Paris’ duties in Sickbay?” Tuvok asked. “Those duties were a part of his regular routine.” 

“Sickbay will have to wait. It is more important to get Mr. Paris fully up to speed at the helm. Besides, it won’t hurt for the Doctor to have this little reminder that he is also supposed to follow my orders. Maybe he will appreciate Mr. Paris’ contributions a little more if he has to make do without them for a while longer.” 

Chakotay made an additional entry on his PADD. 

“Now to plan for the next step,” the Captain continued. “We know that discipline isn’t just about punishment. The word is built around the idea of learning. Mr. Paris has been a valued member of this crew. He has also been headstrong and impulsive. He has sometimes treated rules as negotiable. Our challenge is to get him to learn to consider all the consequences of his actions before he acts. I expect to end up with a better officer when this is all over. Mr. Paris may not be interested in moving up the chain of command. But, I would not be doing my job as his commanding officer if I didn’t give him every opportunity to develop his skills to keep that possibility open. That holds true whether we make it home next week or years from now.” 

“What did you have in mind?” Chakotay asked. “He’s already had a lot of experience being in command on the bridge. I don’t see you tempting him with the prospect of studying to make Captain.”

“There is more to command than being in charge on the bridge and there are other steps Mr. Paris can be persuaded to take without mentioning the word ‘Captain’. That’s where you come in, Commander.” 

“Oh?” Chakotay ventured cautiously. 

“We know that Mr. Paris has a unique talent for questioning orders,” she commented dryly. “As I recall, that’s almost a job requirement for First Officer. Mr. Paris has already had experience as Acting First Officer. When Tuvok filled in as Captain and you and I were on New Earth, I understand that Mr. Paris did an excellent job.”

“That is true, Captain,” Tuvok confirmed.

“We should encourage those talents. There is no one who can do a better job preparing Mr. Paris to be a good First Officer than my own First Officer. I can’t think of anyone more qualified to teach Tom how to question orders without crossing the line.” 

“Are planning to train him to replace me as First Officer?” Chakotay asked, his lips quirking upward in a teasing smile. 

“Not a chance!” She answered him with the faintest trace of a smile of her own. “Seriously, though. Would you be willing to put in the time to work with Tom, to teach him what it takes to be a good First Officer?” 

“I don’t mind helping Tom. We still have our ups and downs, but I’ve found that a bit of humor goes a long way with him. In a pinch I can always get him to come around if I tell him that I need his help. It should make for an interesting experience. If necessary, I can commiserate with Tuvok. You can pity both of us while you relax over your coffee. 

“Oh, you can’t make me feel guilty, Chakotay. I’ve saved the hardest job for myself. I am the Captain after all.” 

“What are you planning to do, Kathryn?” 

“I am going to teach Mr. Paris to appreciate and follow Starfleet regulations,” she announced grandly. 

Chakotay groaned. “I take back what I said. You have my sympathy. I can see you getting Tom to review the regulations. Just how are you going to get him to want to stick to them?” 

“You underestimate me, Chakotay. You are not the only one who knows how to get around Tom’s defenses. I have a few tricks up my sleeve.”   
Then Kathryn became more serious again. “I am sure you have noticed that there are times when I have, shall we say, bent the rules? Out in space, Captains are given a large area of personal discretion because there are times when it is simply necessary to be creative. But, if Captains just ignore the Starfleet regulations that are inconvenient, we cease to be Starfleet officers. A good officer has to learn to follow rules first, in order to know how and when to be ‘creative’ with them.” 

“So you can pity me while you relax over your herbal tea.” Kathryn threw Chakotay’s earlier line back at him. “I intend to meet regularly with Tom, and use every means necessary to keep our lines of communication open. I have no intention of letting him slip away and lose himself the way he did after Caldik Prime.” 

“Captain, if you don’t mind me asking, what did happen at the Caldik Prime hearing?” Chakotay asked. “I reviewed the official record before we recruited Tom to the Maquis. If we hadn’t needed his skills so badly, we never would have taken him. It didn’t make sense to us that he was so conveniently off by himself in that bar. We were taking a big risk, gambling that he wasn’t a spy. After getting to know Tom better over the past few years, it still doesn’t make sense that he ended up alone in some bar.” 

“I’ve gone over the records several times myself, the Captain admitted. “I know that despite the way that Tom talks about being kicked out of Starfleet, he was actually allowed to resign. He was ‘forced’ to resign as he made a point of telling me that first day in New Zealand. But he still resigned. That meant that he had the right to reapply to Starfleet, the way Tuvok did after he resigned from Starfleet many years ago. Whether Tom’s application would have been accepted without proof of some serious attitude changes is another matter. But the option was always there for him.” 

The Captain paused for a moment, deep in thought. “It is what happened after Tom left Starfleet that puzzled me the most. There are other people out there who have left Starfleet for various reasons. It’s not in Starfleet’s best interests to have disgruntled ex-Starfleet officers getting into trouble and giving Starfleet a bad name. Starfleet looks after its own- even after they’ve left. Starfleet offers counseling, along with various other services. One entire department is assigned to monitor ex-Starfleet personnel. As you know, that’s one of the reasons why we had so much information on you and B’Elanna,” she told Chakotay. 

Chakotay did indeed know. When he resigned from Starfleet to join the Maquis, he had worked hard to try to elude that Starfleet interest. 

The Captain stared into her mug. “Somehow Tom slipped through the cracks. Instead of directing him toward channels that would help him to rebuild his life, Starfleet let a highly trained pilot sink into a drunken state and get picked up by the Maquis.” 

“The Maquis were always wary of Tom,” Chakotay commented. “We bought his services, but we never really trusted him. When Starfleet picked him up on his first mission, we were convinced that we were right all along about him being a plant, or at the very least that he had sold us out.” 

“Even though he was sent to prison, Commander?” Tuvok inquired. 

“The New Zealand penal colony didn’t seem like that much of a hardship. From a Maquis perspective, it meant good food, a warm bed and no Cardassians trying to kill you. That seemed like a pretty good deal back then. Since hearing from home, many of the former Maquis crewmembers on Voyager have come to know better.” 

“I don’t think we’ll ever know exactly what happened after the Caldik Prime hearing. My best guess is that some misinformed officer assumed that an Admiral could look after his own son. Anyone who has ever met Admiral Paris would know that he would expect proper procedures to be followed and would assume that Tom was receiving help through regular Starfleet channels.” Kathryn held onto her mug with both hands. “I think there were some hard questions asked when Tom was recruited by the Maquis and even more when he ended up in prison. Maybe that’s why it was so easy to get him out of Auckland. You know, he didn’t have to be released from prison and go all the way to the Badlands on Voyager just to give us the little information that he did have.” 

The Captain looked at both of her officers in turn. “Whatever reasons there were back then for leaving Tom to cope on his own, I have no intention of allowing it to happen again. We are going to do whatever it takes to make sure that he knows that he has people on this ship he can turn to for support.”

Days later, Tuvok was at work in his office. He looked up from the reports on his desk and checked the ship’s chronometer. Then he put his PADDs aside to begin his walk down to the brig. Soon, the ship’s corridors would be busy with shift change. For now they were deserted and refreshingly quiet. He stopped outside the brig and rechecked the chronometer. It was time. 

Tuvok went inside and nodded his instructions to the guard on duty. The force field shimmered and disappeared. Tuvok noted that Mr. Paris still had not shaved. It was time to make it clear that Mr. Paris was still an officer on this ship and that he was expected to both look and act like one. “Rise and shine, Ensign Paris. Your thirty days are served. Perhaps you would care to shave?” 

Tom accepted what he knew was an order. He stepped out of his prison cell to join Tuvok.

Tom Paris was a free man. 

He was not alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) On the one hand, Kathryn Janeway has been criticized for doing Chakotay an injustice by not including him in her plan to use Tom to uncover the spy on Voyager. On the other hand she has also been criticized for not setting any consequences for Chakotay’s actions when he ignored her authority and left Voyager to retrieve the stolen piece of technology from Seska. It made sense to me to connect the two events so that, yes, there were consequences for Chakotay’s actions. The consequences were that he had to endure being pushed to one side when the Captain was dealing with matters, like the spy plan, that put Chakotay in the position of questioning the actions of his former Maquis crewmates. 
> 
> 2) There was a list of charges read against Tom. Despite frequent criticism around this point, violating the Prime Directive was not one of them. When Tom set up that conversation with Riga about a hypothetical course of action, he explained that if Riga, a member of a technologically advanced civilization, asked Tom for help, the Prime Directive permitted Tom to respond. Tom was never charged with any infractions against the Prime Directive. 
> 
> 3) I decided to have Tuvok monitor Tom’s readjustment, based on events in the Season Five episode, Gravity. It gives a reasonable explanation why it was Tuvok who was with Tom on what was otherwise a routine shuttlecraft flight. Note that this episode was filmed right after Counterpoint, although not aired until after Bride of Chaotica. The actual filming order puts this episode early in Tom’s transition back to his duties. 
> 
> 4) The idea for Chakotay agreeing to teach Tom about being a First Officer comes from Season Seven’s opening episode, Unimatrix Zero Part Two. With Captain Janeway and Tuvok both away from Voyager and Chakotay acting as Captain, Tom puts himself forward as Acting First Officer. When Chakotay criticizes Tom for one of his First Officer actions, Tom replies that he learned from the best, indicating that he means Chakotay. 
> 
> 5) The idea for Kathryn to plan to have frequent talks with Tom comes from several small scenes in various episodes. In the Season Five episode, 11:59, Tom is part of a small, informal group, sitting around in the Captain’s quarters. He is lounging on a chair with his feet up, as if he is quite comfortable being there. In the Season Five episode, The Fight. Chakotay has visions about people and places on Voyager. In one of his visions, Captain Janeway comes to the door of her ready room with Tom Paris standing behind her in the ready room. This must have been a common enough sight for Chakotay to visualize them this way in his hallucination. In the Season Seven episode, Natural Law, the Captain insists that Tom agree to comply with local laws in what is otherwise an unnecessary exercise, underlining that this is an important issue between them. 
> 
> 6) For the suggestion that Starfleet is open to the return of ‘damaged’ officers, consider the case of Ensign Ro from The Next Generation. She continued to be an officer in Starfleet after serving a sentence in the stockade. 
> 
> 7) For Kathryn’s comments about Admiral Paris, refer to the Season Six episode, Pathfinder where Admiral Paris insists on respecting chain of command procedures and refuses to circumvent protocol even when the possibility of contact with his son is involved.
> 
> 8) The idea that Starfleet maintains responsibility for ex-officers is tenuous, but plausible. As I mentioned in the main body of the story, in the Season One episode, Caretaker, Captain Janeway and Starfleet still have easy access to records on Chakotay. Starfleet has enough information to know how to successfully infiltrate Tuvok into his crew. In the Season Two episode, Non Sequitur, Harry’s database contains current information about the alternate Tom Paris who, by then, hasn’t been in Starfleet for a minimum of two years. Also, in the same episode, the other Tom thinks that Starfleet has sent Harry to try to get Tom involved in some project and it doesn’t seem unreasonable to Harry that Tom assumes that this could happen. Lastly, from the series, Deep Space Nine, there is the intensity with which Captain Sisko feels responsible and insists that he has to track down, Michael Eddington, the Starfleet officer who deserted to the Maquis after serving under him. I actually hope that Sisko was acting on more than just personal motives. Otherwise his actions in that particular episode seem rather extreme and even disturbing.

**Author's Note:**

> 1) The whole idea for the Monean involvement in Tom’s sentence was based on the fact that Tom was actually on Monea when he acted, and Voyager was in orbit around the water planet. I wrote an article several years ago, in which I discussed this idea.  
> It has been well established that Starfleet Captains have to accept local judgments even when this involves extreme penalties-the death penalty passed on Wesley in The Next Generation episode, Justice-the mind surgery proposed for B’Elanna in the Voyager Season Four episode, Random Thoughts. 
> 
> 2) I used this story to also address the criticism that B’Elanna, Tuvok and Chakotay all went against the Captain’s orders, yet none of them faced serious consequences for their actions. If you check through the stories carefully, there are clues that might indicate consequences that weren’t obvious at the time.  
> In B’Elanna’s case, Captain Janeway said that if there were any further transgressions, B’Elanna would be reduced in rank all the way down to crewman. In fact there is at least one anomaly in Season Three that indicates that there were still questions at that time about her rank. In the episode, Future’s End, B’Elanna and Harry are both on the bridge while the rest of the senior staff is down on Earth. Ensign Harry Kim, not Lieutenant B’Elanna Torres, is in charge.  
> It isn’t until the Season Six episode, Tsunkatse that we see B’Elanna clearly in charge on the bridge. For the purpose of my story, I choose to have B’Elanna start to cover shifts on the bridge around the same time that Tuvok got his promotion early in Season Four in the episode, Revulsion.  
> In the Season Four episode, Waking Moments, B’Elanna is coming off duty after gamma shift, the shift that Harry worked later in the series when be began to cover bridge duty on a regular basis. In the Waking Moments episode, Tom complains that He and B”Elanna never get to see each other any more. That fits in with a premise that B’Elanna now has bridge duty as well as her engineering duties.


End file.
